Weekend Box Office Report: August 16-18 2013

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT "” August 16-18, 2013(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

1. The Butler ($25.5 million)2. We're the Millers ($17.7 million)3. Elysium ($13.6 million)4. Kick-Ass 2 ($13.5 million)5. Planes ($13.1 million)

 

The Butler served up a terrific opening this weekend, and the only one of the four new releases that can call itself a success. Lee Daniels' film loosely based on the life of White House domestic Eugene Allen earned an estimated $25 million, nearly matching its budget. It's also got me a little excited that there was finally a movie with an African-American cast that did well, and didn't have Tyler Perry's name on it whatsoever. It's a genuinely uplifting, inspiring film that doesn't rely on a man in drag or some sort of backwards morality to teach its lessons. 

One of August's biggest surprises has to be We're the Millers. The R-rated comedy starring Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston earned middling reviews, but in 10 days it's made nearly $70 million. That's more than any August release has earned so far. With little competition the next two weeks, it could end up near $100 million.

Finally, it was all variations on bad news for the weekend's other three releases. Kick-Ass 2, the wildly entertaining comic-book sequel did the least terrible, taking in $13.5 million. That's far less than the original. Still it only cost $28 million, and will likely do well on video, where the first one made most of its money. If you've read the overwhelmingly negative reviews, let me just say that if you liked the first one, you'll like this one, too.

Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: The French winery drama You Will Be My Son. It made $15,500 on its lone screen.

- The weekend's other wide releases performed terribly: Ashton Kutcher's Steve Jobs impersonation in Jobs took in only $6.7 million and the dreadful techno-thriller Paranoia made only $3.5 million. The latter couldn't even use a showdown between Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman to beat Despicable Me 2 in its seventh week. 

- Three new independent releases all averaged more than $7,000: Jerusha Hess' romantic comedy Austenland, the on-the-lam drama Ain't Them Bodies Saints and the true romance doc Cutie and the Boxer.

Next week: My most anticipated movie of the summer, The World's End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, caps off the trilogy that began with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Based on its competition, I think it will only open with around $15 million. That's better than The Mortal Instruments, which like this year's Beautiful Creatures, is yet another sad attempt to be the next Twilight. Its TV ads have only focused on the beautiful cast giving interviews at malls and have barely shown any clips from the actual film. That can't be good. I think it only ends up at $12 million for the weekend. So what does that leave? Based on how this year has gone, you have to go with the horror film. So I'm betting the oft-delayed You're Next takes the No. 1 spot with $20 million. 

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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